Who went?Donielle(my 11 year old daughter),Kim(my 36 year old sister)Ty(my 5 month old nephew-Kim's son) and me.
When? July 11-July 21, 1998
Weather? PERFECT
Day 1:
Our plane left on Saturday, July 11, from Nashville at 8:00a.m.. Since it is a little over a 2 hr drive, we went down Friday and spent the night with friends who also drove us to the airport. Our flight left on time and it didn't take too long to get to Dallas/Fort Worth where we changed planes. That flight was the hard one. It was so long but we had bulkhead seats which gave me more leg room. We arrived at Honolulu at 2:10p.m.excited, excited, excited!!!!Gathered all our luggage & etc. and went to get ride to Alamo car rental. Had steps to get up on van but driver told us next time to request a car so I could travel better. We had reserved a mid-size car. Well we had to upgrade to a large car because our stuff wouldn't fit in the trunk but remember we had a stroller,wheelchair,walker, car seat plus our luggage,purses and diaper bag. Whew!!! It then took us over 2 hours to get to the motel even though it was only 10 miles. They were having a block party and had the roads closed off because Joe Montana and Shequel O'Neal were in town. Finally, we arrived at our motel, Outrigger Reef, on Wakiki Beach. They helped us unload and got all our stuff to our room. Donielle changed into her bathing suit and hit the pool. We checked out the motel and found a restaurant at the back end right on the beach. We ordered hamburgers and french fries, a strawberry daquari and watched the sun set. It was so beautiful. We finally gave it up though and went to bed which was 1:30 a.m. Tennessee time and 8:30 p.m. hawaii time. Needless to say, we slept soundly.
Day 2, Sunday, July 12
Went to activities desk in motel lobby to check out different things we were interested in. Got a map and took off. We drove on Diamond Head Blvd. It was the most beautiful drive. The water was the prettiest shades of blue and green. I have never saw anything like it. We spend the whole day driving and visiting places like the Blowhole, Hanauma Bay, Pali Lookout, Sandy Beach and Sea Life Park where we saw a sealion show, and 2 dolphin shows. After arriving back at motel, we ate a sandwich and then went walking the streets for shopping. Hit the bed at 11:00 p.m. Hawaii time.
Day 3, Monday, July 13
Left on 9:00 a.m. on a guided tour. They had a wheelchair lift on the van which was great. We went to Chinatown, downtown Honolulu, the Iolani Palace, the Capitol Building, Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial and the Punchbowl Cementary. We took some great pictures and our driver/tour guide was excellent. We got back to motel at 2:00, changed into bathing suits and went to ocean/beach. They had a beachwalk which was so nice. I could sit there in wheelchair and enjoy the view. I did stick my toes in the sand but couldn't get down to the water. We stayed there about an hour then went back to the pool. We hit the streets shopping again in a different direction. Also checked out the International Market Place. It is an outdoor shopping mall mostly owned by Japanese. Kim did a good job of jewing them down so we got a lot of stuff for very reasonable prices. It was 11:35 p.m. when we got back to room. Tired but having a blast!!!
Day 4, Tuesday, July 14
Walked to Denny's Restaurant for breakfast. Had fresh pineapple along with eggs and bacon. Today, we drove to the North Shore where the waves are huge and all the surfers go. It was pretty but the East Side drive was prettier. Here too, there were not too many places to pull off and take pictures. I guess because it was so dangerous because there were not too many people in water but quiet a few surfers way out. We stopped at the dole Pineapple Planation. It was interesting. We bought a few souveniers. Things were quiet expensive there but we loved to look. Donielle got a cone of homemade pineapple ice cream. It was delicious. The town of Hanilea was quaint and old. We did a little shopping there too. I bought 2 bird feeders made out of coconuts. Darling!!Got back to motel at 3:30 and went and sat by pool for 2 hours. Donielle & Ty love the water. Ate at a fish restaurant. I had moonfish. Quiet good. Did a little shopping again. We made it to bed a little after 11:00. Another big day!!
Day 5, Wednesday, July 15
Today we fly to Maui. We just stayed at the pool until time to leave for the airport. We arrived in Maui at 2:30. This time Kim got the rental car while Donielle & I stayed at the airport with our luggage. It took 30 minutes to get to our motel, the Royal Lahaina Resort. Kim checked us in and we got to room and it was not anything I had reserved. It had a bathtub(suppose to be a walk in shower), a king size bed(suppose to be double beds) no view of ocean(suppose to be ocean front). I called back down to front desk and they were not nice at all. They said they didn't even have walk in showers. I had called personally myself and inquired about walk in showers. I was so upset, I started crying. They said there was nothing they could do, we would have to contact our travel agent. We had to call home to get the phone number and then got the travel agent up out of bed. She was very nice and promised to get it straighten out as sonn as she went in to work. We had no choice but to stay the night. Got a roll away bed for Donielle and went down to pool. Their pool was nice and faced the ocean. Donielle went swimming and I just sat and listened to the waves. So peaceful. I needed to relax after our ordeal. I sure hope tomorrow is better. Asleep by 10:45.
Day 6, Thursday, July 16
Got up at 5:00 a.m. and watched the sun rise. So beautiful. Waited around for travel agent to call us. She did 3 times and finally had made arrangements for us at Maui Marriott. We went down to check out and met a nice man, Mike who was manager. He didn't charge us for parking or the phone calls we made plus he did give us a complimentary pass to their luau. The Marriott is awesome. Our room was everything we wanted. The motel lobby is open with waterfalls, fountains, plants, trees, birds, fish, flowers, shops all over the place. It is truly wonderful. You can park your car on our deck which is L shaped and just a few steps from the ocean. After settling in, we took a boat ride on the ReefDancer. It had underwater windows so you could see the fish and coral on the ocean bottom. They helped me down below so i could enjoy everything. Afterwards, walked Front Street and shopped some more. Got back to motel at 4:00 and went to pool with Donielle until Kim & Ty came. Walked the beachwalk and watched the sun set. Beautiful!!! Ate at a Japanese restaurant where they cooked our meal in front of us. It was so neat, good and expensive!!! Bed around 10:30.
Day 7, Friday, July 17
Slept late. Drove up west coat and enjoyed the scenery. Was at Mala Whaft at 12:30 for Kim & Donielle to go parasailing. Ty & I stayed in the car. Donielle loved it but Kim was scared to death. They were 900 ft in the air over the ocean. Hope the pictures are good. Came back to motel room and just relaxed in the sunshine. Got ready to go to the luau at the Royal Lahanina. It was nice.
Lots of food and the entertainment was enjoyable. Bought Donielle a real lei for her neck and one to go around her head. They smell so good and she looks like a blonde Hawaiian. Went back to motel and sat at ocean just listening to the waves.
Day 8, Saturday, July 18
Left at 8:30 for our 3 hour drive to Hana. It was such an unbelieveable trip. The views were just out of this world. The road had 57 one lane bridges and hundreds of curves. You had to blow your horn before going around a curve. It was quiet scary at times There were so many waterfalls. We saw banana trees,avacodo,papaya and coconut trees. It was all just the most beautiful sights even though it was 3 hrs in and 3 hrs. out. It was a pretty tiring day. We went to pool & ordered a pizza delivered then went to bed early.
Day 9, Sunday, July 19
Got up early again this morning for our drive to Haleakala Summit, the dormant volcano. It also was a beautiful drive that took 2 hours. It was cold at the top. There was a lot of climbing and walking to get to sites so I sat in the car and Donielle & Kim took in the views and got the sights on the camcorder for me.Returned for our snorkel cruise. I had the best time. The guys on the boat lifted wheelchair with me in it, straight onto boat. Donielle was scared at first but after a little while she took right to it. She was the last one in and the last one to get out when we were ready to leave!!! The captain of the boat went scuba diving and brought back some water life and gave us a lesson on the different "creatures" he had found. It was really interestng. Donielle took underwater pictures with a $10.00 disposable underwater camera. We were out for around 4 hours but I really enjoyed it but I did get too much sun even though I had sunscreen on. Went to pasta bar for supper at our motel. Reasonable price--thank goodness!!!Early night. Asleep by 10:00.
Day 10, Monday, July 20
Went to Front Street for some last minute shopping before we leave. Checkout is at 12:00. We didn't make it back until 12:02 and had to ask for an extended checkout. We don't want to leave this beautiful island but we know we have to. Left Maui airport and got to Honolulu at 4:00. Our flight was to leave there at 5:20 so we did a little window shopping. We started down runway right on time but then stopped. We waited and waited until finally pilot came on and said we were going back to Honolulu because there were 2 unruly passengers on board. The police came on board and escorted 2 men off. I think they had too much to drink and were being rude,loud etc. It was 7:30 before we took off which caused us to miss our flight in Dallas/Fort Worth to Nashville.
Day 11, Tuesday July 21
We had to wait until 9:09 to catch a flight and didn't get to Nashville until 11:00. Don & Tim had checked when we didn't get off the plane at 8:05 and were told about the 2 unruly passengers. Of course, they asked if it was Kim & me!!!! After loading all our luggage, a case of pineapples & our essentials, we headed back to Crossville. It is good to be back home but this trip was worth every penny it cost us. We have so many wonderful pictures and truly great memories to last us into our old age.
